May 2010

May 27, 2010

There are excellent books on how to improve our lives in all areas. There are wonderful seminars conducted by some of the sharpest minds about how to identify our blind spots and grow personally. Mentors and coaches and helpers who encourage people on pathways toward self-improvement are plentiful. But even though these incredible enablers of positive change abound, there is an all-too common disease that thwarts all the greatest efforts toward lasting self-improvement, and it is called: Improvement Deficiency Syndrome (IDS).

Improvement Deficiency Syndrome occurs in both men and women, old and young, across seemingly every demographic and socio-economic sector. IDS appears early in some, has a late-onset in others.

The symptoms of IDS include the following:

1. persistent resistance to a positive attitude

2. the ability to read hundreds of self-improvement books and still not improve

3. inborn selfishness that exhibits itself with repeated flareups

4. sudden anger and jealousy and the "taking of offense" based on some obscure behavior of other people

5. pervasive self-pity and the justification necessary to feed it

6. the making of excuses to cover one's lack of advancement

7. the continued placement of self at the center of the universe

8. the ability to see any self-serving action as justifiable and righteous

Yes. These symptoms are serious. If you or anyone you know appears to be exhibiting these effects, see your mentor immediately. If you detect that being in a positive environment, reading good books, and associating with uplifting people is having no effect on your attitude, heart, or service toward others - seek help fast. You may be a chronic sufferer of IDS.

Don't take this lightly. Already, hundreds of thousands of people around the world have been identified as having symptoms of IDS. It has destroyed friendships, ruined marriages, and derailed careers.

The trickiest part about identifying the presence of IDS is that the afflicted person, having read so many good books and having associated with positive people, knows how he or she should be behaving. This leads to effective masking, as the person with IDS "fakes" the correct behaviors to cover up for his or her lack of a growing heart. Bad attitudes are hidden under false smiles, anger and jealousy are shrouded in an artificial positive attitude, and selfishness and self-pity are positioned behind a platitude of positive sayings and cryptic one liners.

Beware the sufferers of IDS. Such people are among the most self-deceived of our species. They think that by doing the right things they are becoming the right person. They mistake deeds for development, actions for intent, and works for heart. They think that saying and doing the right things is what it's all about, instead of thinking and feeling and becoming the right person. In short, they think by acting better they actually have become better.

Should you encounter a sufferer of IDS, pray for them immediately. Administer love and support, but be firm in your insistence that they seek help. Although their behavior can be explained by the serious debilitating effects of IDS, it can never be justified. Get them to see their mentor immediately, and apply heavy doses of tough love and an insistence upon a change that takes place deep inside, at the heart level, spiritually. Nothing less has ever been found to work.

May 24, 2010

In all of the talk one finds today regarding leadership, there is one aspect in particular that seems to be assumed (and often times erroneously). That one thing is execution.

Productivity is a foundation stone for the credibility a leader must garner in order to influence others. There is no shortage of people who can act busy, be busy, get busy, or seem busy. There is also no shortage of people who have themselves convinced that because they work hard they are therefore effective.

Busyness, however, is merely a snake oil salesman at the back of a rickety cart promising lotions and potions for all sorts of tricks. Sometimes, the potions work. After all, isn't real medicine itself a type of potion? But for the snake-oil salesman, most potions are mere hoaxes. That is what activity and busyness are. Sure, success requires hard work and busyness, effort and at times long, arduous hours. However, much of what passes as hard work is no more than a false elixir made to fool (often to the highest degree) the person who is doing the work. Don't fall for the con of your own activity level. Many, many people are busy, but it is the rare person who executes efficiently and effectively, considering priorities, living by the 80-20 rule, and posting results time and time again.

Are you good at getting things done?

Do you execute compellingly?

Can you be counted on to finish what you start?

When given responsibility for a task, can you be trusted implicitly with its efficient and complete performance?

If not, you may consider your lack thereof as a limiter on your influence and credibility with others.

May 19, 2010

Struggles and obstacles are a normal part of high achievement. Inertia, laziness, and complacency must be violently beat back with the blunt sword of determination. Excellence only comes with a price, and sometimes paying that price will almost bring us to our knees.

This kind of talk is nothing new to high-achievers. They know the miles they've traveled and the resistance they've had to overcome. They understand that nothing great can be accomplished without a heroic struggle, often the long and drudging kind of struggle, requiring daily fortitude in the quiet, unseen moments that separate the best from the rest.

Most people, it seems, are not prepared for this. They dream of the lofty prizes, get starry-eyed at the glitter of success, but become bogged down along the journey. Uninitiated into the corps of the courageous, they don't always know how to respond. This is when the "Puffy Face" symptom sets in.

Perhaps you've seen it. The Puffy Face, that is. It's a condition that afflicts some people once they realize greatness will exact a price from them. Their eyes don't light up quite like before. Their step is no longer quick and light. Their smile is forced and wooden. But most of all, their entire countenance seems to bloat with self-absorbed doubt, as if all the unfairness in the world has assembled within their cheeks and chin.

"This is hard," their fat jowls seem to say, or "I'm not sure this is worth it," or "The grass is greener somewhere else, surely," or, "If God would have wanted me to succeed at this, He'd have made it easier!" or "Success can't be this hard for everybody else, something is unfairly stacked up against me!" And of course, with each passing excuse, their face puffs up even more.

Puffy Face is a quitter's disease. Avoid it at all costs. It is very hard to reduce the swelling and regain the countenance of a determined warrior, but it can be done. A return to the heroic will involve several antidotes, including reconnecting with one's purpose, refreshing one's dream, and counting one's blessings. The challenge seems to be that once a victim is afflicted with the Puffy Face, he or she is unwilling or uninterested in taking these remedies. Sadly, most Puffy Faces simply fade away into oblivion, blaming others as they go. They will never achieve anything of significance, taking their personal limitations and failures with them into the next endeavor, which, inevitably, will only eventuate in another Puffy Face episode, at which point the cycle starts over again!

It would be much better to muster the courage to beat back the Puffy Face and push through the tough moments. The victory podium is worth it, and to be sure, there are no Puffy Faces there!

May 18, 2010

I've studied for years the many people who have achieved tremendous things in life, and one thing I find common to them all is the audacity to follow their own inner voice. If you think about it, much of our unhappiness comes from wrong turns and calamitous dead-ends that result from us not really knowing what we want.

Just how did you become trapped in that job you can't stand? What made you get so in debt? How did you become over-burdened in commitments you didn't really sign up for?

When you are unclear about what you really want out of life, there will be no shortage of people who will quickly rush in to fill the void. "Oh yeah? Don't know what you want, huh? No problem, WE know what we want from you. Just step right over here . . . ."

Lou Holtz once said, "Decisions are only difficult if you don't know what your purpose is." Stated another way, I might say it like this: "Unhappiness and a lack of fulfillment may result from not knowing what your purpose is." Not to mention the squandering of talents, wasting of time, and loss of opportunity.

So listen to that inner voice. Follow your passions and hide not your light under a bushel. You were built for a purpose. When it comes down to it, you are the only one who can stop you.

May 15, 2010

Leadership involves two things: being able to kick your own butt so you can and will personally perform, and caring for and loving the people who follow you.
As your influence grows your roles will change. In essence, this is what Orrin Woodward and I were attempting to teach in the Launching a Leadership Revolution book. But you must always be willing to perform, and at the same time grow in the love and grace you show your people.
Lead.
Love.
Everything falls into those categories.